Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [flute]

The modern flute is a member of the woodwind family, and is typically made out of silver or wood.

The modern flute is a member of the woodwind family, and is typically made out of silver or wood. It is an edge-blown aerophone that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening.

Wiki

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Can a flute soloist sit?

I am a 60 year old flutist and I am about to perform a humble concert in my community. I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot, and I wonder if it is acceptable for me to sit on a high chair (like bar chair height) instead of stand for my…
Kristine Kirby
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Is there any way for my to become a better judge of my playing? Especially while I'm playing

When I'm playing my flute I sound fine, but when I listen to a recording I sound terrible. Is there any way for me to become a better judge of my playing? Especially while I'm playing, I want to be able to know if the sounds I'm making are good.
user39730
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Cleaning a tarnished flute

My flute is tarnished and needs to be cleaned... I was afraid if I polished it, I would break something on it. I read online that it's a bad idea to remove tarnish on a flute yourself as you can ruin the pads. I have some questions regarding…
Melanie Shebel
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Is there a recorder-analog for the flute?

I have used soprano baroque recorders for students aged 8-10 as a "pre-band" instrument. I find that most students enjoy practicing note-reading, and the average student is able to progress reasonably far in two years of study. I find that…
nuggethead
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Software that transposes music?

I would love to be able to learn the flute by playing more popular music. However, all the free sheet music that I can find for a flute in the key of C is lame stuff like "Jingle Bells." In my search for songs that I would like to play on the flute,…
Melanie Shebel
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Why are end-blown flutes shorter than their ideal length?

A flute is an open cylinder air column instrument. This means that an idealised flute, the fundamental pitch of the flute should have a wavelength of twice the length of the flute. This isn't exactly the case with a real flute though. For example, a…
naught101
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I have been practicing a song for 3 hours straight but I keep making mistakes. How can I get it right?

There is this one song I have to play for school but every time I try to play it, I make a mistake. I did this for 3 hours straight and I sent an email to my teacher and he gave me some advice but it didn't really help. I have no idea what I'm…
Noor Tazkargy
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Impossibly long flute note

I sometimes compose for my own amusement but I have no delusions of creating anything that anyone else would like to hear. In one of my ideas, I want a long sustained flute note to bridge two movements. The other instruments will stop on a chord…
badjohn
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Beginning to learn the transverse C-flute : with offset-G key or inline-G key?

I have a nephew, eleven years old, who wants to start learning the flute next september. I have seen that there are flute models with two central round keys either inline with the others or slightly offset towards the small fingers of the left hand…
ogerard
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How does a flutist maintain a grip on the flute when the stops are open?

Per title, how does a flutist maintain a grip on the flute when the stops are open? If the note requires holding down the stops, I would think that grip is between the closed fingers and the thumb, but if all the stops are open (or the note…
Tyler Durden
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Can chords be played on the flute?

I have been playing the flute for some time now, and wanted to expand my knowledge of it. To do so, I started learning more about the standard music notation. While doing so, I ran into a concept called chords. I learned all about chords, and…
xilpex
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How does the use of silver influence the quality of a flute?

Flutes are made from a variety of materials. Student flutes are normally made from silver-plated nickel, while better quality flutes (sometimes the body and the head and sometimes only the head) are made from silver, or even gold! I was wondering…
Tim H
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How loud is a concert flute?

I'm looking for an portable quiet instrument that I can have fun with without disturbing the neighbors at night. And listening to flutes in recordings, I got the impression that they are relatively quiet. But looking around the net, I couldn't get a…
Anthony
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How do uncovered tone holes in middle of a flute work?

As a (mediocre) guitarist just starting to dabble with other instruments, the first several fingering diagrams for flutes, saxophones, etc make good intuitive sense to me because you're effectively just lengthening or shortening the resonance…
David Perry
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Harp Tuning Tendencies

I am a flutist and I will be playing flute in a harp ensemble. Is there anything I should know concerning tuning issues with harps while playing. Are there certain notes or octaves that are prone to being flatter or sharper than others?
user303537
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